Friday Five: The 5 Best Red Lipsticks

I used to be the girl who never wore a bold lip. That was, until I tried one. From there, it was a slippery slope (in a good way). Now, you’ll rarely see me without one unless I’m at work. That might get a little too much attention (in a bad way). A bold red has the ability to up your beauty ante in 30 seconds. Especially if you’re not a makeup person like me, this is an easy way to “fake it”.

Before I dive into my top 5 favorites, let me give you a little pep talk if you’re still hesitant. You can wear a bold lip. I know it might look weird to you the first few times. You will get used to it. Try to see what everyone else sees which is a total bombshell in that fire engine red. People will notice and no one is going to think it’s odd! In fact, I bet you’ll get compliments on it, yes compliments! Trust me, I still get stopped in the streets occasionally with girls asking me what color I’m wearing. People love a bold lip!

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I just had to put together this post. Red lips are such a symbol of the holiday. VDay can sometimes be unoriginal but I wanted to show how you can wear a red lip without looking like you were styled by Hallmark. Not only that but putting on a red lip can make you feel like the Superwoman of date nights. Love is a battlefield, so show up with the right weapons (i.e. a red lipstick). With that, here are my 5 favorite lipsticks EVER.

1. Smashbox Always On Liquid Lip. This is my absolute favorite lip. I wear it in 90% of my shoots (as I admitted in this post here) because it is stays longer than anything else. The color I’m wearing above is ‘Bawse’ which is just a great, classic red. If you’re new to liquid lips, give this one a try first. I used to be a lipstick girl but Smashbox changed my tune with this product. When I’m shooting all day or going out to dinner and drinks, this is the lip I usually wear because there are minimal retouches. You can wear this with almost every color in your closet. I say almost because I try not to speak in absolutes. I’ve been racking my brain for 5 minutes trying to find an example where you can’t wear it but nothing comes to mind!

As number 1.5, I’d recommend this lip color is ‘Miss Conduct’. I wore that shade to a wedding last fall with a burgundy maxi and could not make it across the room without being stopped by people wondering what it was. It’s more of a vampy-but-not-too-Hot-Topic-esque color. Anyone who grew up in the 90s knows what I’m talking about. It’s a safe bet for all skin colors too!

2. Beautycounter’s Sheer Lipstick. I put this one on and told Matt “I forgot how much I loved this lip.” Of course, he couldn’t care less. Figures. If you missed me explaining Beautycounter’s mission to create safe, non toxic products, read about it in my skincare routine post. I used to work at corporate and can vouch for how diligent they are with the ingredient selection process. They did a study on how many skin tones this ‘Scarlett’ shade looked good on and it was universal. It’s a sheer so the pigment isn’t as concentrated but you can build it. This lip sheer is my favorite thing to gift to people who are conscious of ingredients or my friends that don’t wear much makeup. I’ve gotten so much great feedback too. Also, I gave these out as favors to the gals at our wedding and they went so fast! People were asking for more!

3. Dior Couture Color Rouge Lipstick. This was my very first red lip so it will always hold a special place in my heart. I’m wearing ‘Trafalgar’ which is a gorgeous orange-red. Depending on what you’re wearing, you might want that more neon undertone to really make it pop. That said, it’s not too orange so that it clashes with any of your wardrobe. I love to wear it a lot with neutrals because it makes such a statement. The only color I tend not to wear it with is red because the pigments sometimes look odd together. That said, I definitely have so there’s always an exception to the rule.

4. Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution. I’m pretty new to this brand but I found this red in one of their Quick ‘N Easy All-In-One Makeup sets. Which, side note, is a genius idea. It’s all the products you need to create a 5 minute face for only $75. They’re limited edition so hurry if you want one! This shade is called Red Carpet Red and it’s a beautiful blend of berry and red. Totally red carpet worthy. Just that perfect feminine red. It’s a really creamy consistency so I’d recommend you prep with a lip primer so it stays in place. You’ll also find me wearing a darker berry color of this same lipstick in this post.

5. Chanel Rouge Double Intensity. I’m very new to Chanel. I was never one of those girls who coveted a Chanel compact (although a boy bag is a different story – still on my list and probably will be forever)! I went to a beauty event on Michigan Ave a few months ago and they put this liquid lip in ‘Bright Raspberry’ on me. I immediately fell in love. If you tend to be a bright pink girl, this one is for you! It’s as if you blended the perfect red and the perfect hot pink together into one tube. It also stays like crazy! I have to use my favorite Bioderma Water to remove it (which I use to take off all my makeup before following this skincare routine).

While this post is conveniently just in time for Valentine’s Day, a red lip is really something to wear year round. Just take a scroll through Instagram and you’ll see me style it for every season! That said, if you do have some special Valentine’s Day plans, get it girl! If you’ve wanted to wear red but didn’t know where to start, well here you go!

What did you think? Do you have a favorite red lip? Let me know in the comments below – I’m always looking to try a new one!

And now for the giveaway! I’ve teamed up with 5 other girls to give away two $250 gift cards (one for you and one for your bestie). It’s super easy to enter – just click this linkand enter your email address! I’ve linked to everyone else’s blogs below so you can check out their beautiful content!